Peter Farrell has given millions to charitable causes, but you won’t find his name on a building. He chooses not to donate to capital construction projects, opting instead to finance projects in education, science, technology and innovation.

Farrell gave $3 million to endow a research chair at Harvard but adds, sheepishly, “It’s almost embarrassing to hear references to ‘Susan Redline, the Peter C. Farrell Professor of Sleep Medicine.’”

But he’s passionate about sleep research. After all, he founded his company, ResMed, in 1989, specifically to treat apnea and sleep-disordered breathing. At the time, it was thought to affect maybe 2 percent of the population. Current research links its toll to 30 percent of adults, with 7 percent suffering debilitating problems that contribute to high blood pressure, heart ailments and diabetes. “It’s arguably the biggest health problem on the planet,” says Farrell.

Today ResMed, which generates $1.5 billion in revenues a year, sells 550,000 breathing masks a month and employs more than 3,500, primarily in its Kearny Mesa facility and in its Sydney, Australia offices.

Today the genial Australian-American CEO mingles easily with his Nobel laureate friends, although he comes from a family of modest means. His mother was a housewife and his father worked in accounting. Farrell was the first in his immediate family to graduate from college. However, his mother’s father, who owned a large electrical contracting business, inspired him to follow an entrepreneurial path from an early age.

Q: Why did you start ResMed?

A: In June of 1986, I was sitting in (sleep researcher) Colin Sullivan’s office at the University of Sydney Medical School. He showed me this Darth Vader-style mask. It was like a toilet seat. He had it connected to a machine you could run your swimming pool on. It sounded like a freight train. I said, “Colin, you must be joking.” He said, “I have 100 patients on it.”

This guy was very credible. Bill Dement, of Stanford University, he’s known as “Dr. Sleep,” has recommended Colin for a Nobel Prize. Dement says this development was at least equivalent to penicillin and will probably end up saving more lives. Rarely in medicine is a treatment developed before the true magnitude of the problem is even understood.

Q: Do you suffer from sleep-disordered breathing?

A: No, but one of my children does and many of my friends.

Q: You give to charitable causes through the Farrell Family Foundation, but you also have the ResMed Foundation. What is the difference?

A: The ResMed Foundation supports relevant clinical studies around the world where we advance the causes of sleep disordered breathing. It’s a good corporate citizen, so we also give grants each year to local charities. Minimally we’ll put $500,000 to $1 million per quarter, or between $2 million to $4 million a year.

Q: How much has your family foundation given away?

A: Several million. Each year I max out on charity and that goes primarily to the Farrell Family Foundation. We give grants to the Museum of Contemporary Art, S. D. Museum of Photographic Arts, S. D. Museum of Art, La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe, San Diego Foundation, S. D. Opera, S.D. Center for Children, Voices for Children, New Children’s Museum, a jazz program at UCSD, UCSD Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, and so on.

Q: What single charitable mission most excites you?

A: Education. You have to teach people how to fish, not give them fish. The kids who get education have a shot. It’s the key to a successful life. That’s why we give to High Tech High, the Monarch School serving the homeless, Preuss School at UCSD and Barrio Logan College Institute. We also fund an aboriginal school in Far North Queensland, Australia.

Q: Is there one donation that stands out in your mind?

A: One time we had a 15-year-old kid with cancer and flew him to Japan to visit the Nintendo factory. That was his wish before he died.

Q: All three of your adult children are on the Farrell Family foundation board and you have said, “If their inheritance is being given away, I thought they ought to have a vote on it.” Is it difficult to reach a consensus on expenses?

A: If I want something they don’t agree on, I fund it separately on my own. Responsible giving is a very tough thing to do well. You have to do your homework. We hire a part-time person. We have site visits, interviews with the people, get follow-up reports. The worst thing we can do is give (to) people and not expect anything back. It’s so important to help people help themselves.

Q: Who are your heroes?

A: Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Winston Churchill. I really admire Charles Koch. He wrote, “The Science of Success.” In the book’s foreword he talked about how his father taught him the importance of hard work, the importance of integrity, the importance of humility and the importance of continuous learning.

Q: As a three-time “Entrepreneur of the Year,” what drives you?

A: Just to make a difference. It’s not a money thing. Sure, a little bit of money gives you flexibility, but it’s nice to be able to help people. You need to be sympathetic to people who haven’t been as lucky. I don’t do it for the accolades.

Q: At one time, you urged a fellow who dozed off next to you on a plane to get treatment for his sleeping disorder. Did he ever report back?

A: Yes, about a month later. He said I just want to thank you for doing this but, more importantly, my wife wants to send you an email. She did. She said: “You’ve given me back my husband. He’s not sleepy any more. He’s back in the land of the living. You’ve saved his life. ” It’s nice to get thanks, but its nicer to know you did make a difference.